Cutting-tool



(NoModeL) P, E. MERRIMANM CUTTING TOOL.

No. 605,582. Patented June 14,1898.

III

WITNESSES ZLIS Attor'n ey H: NORRIS Pzrzns co. PHDTD-LITHQ, WASNINGTON, u. c

v UNITED STAT PATIENT OFFICE.

FRANCIS E. IVIERRIMAN, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO HERBERTN. KINGSBURY, OF WESTFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

cuT eooL.

SIEGIFIGATION forming part of Letters Ifatent No. 6Q5,582, dated June1 4, 1898; Application filed ber 29,1897. Serial No.656fl80. (No model.)

To all. whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANCIS E. MERRIMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutting-Tools," of which the 'following'is' a specification, reference beinghad thereinto the accompanyingdrawings. This invention relates to that class of hand tools or implementsadapted especially for cutting leather and other. flexible material into strips of predetermined thickness and wherein a uniform thickness may be maintained or the strips maybe made thicker at one or more portions and then tapered or made thinner at other portions, the said variation in the thickness of the cut occurring simultaneouslywith the passage of the tool or implement across the piece beingoperated upon.

My invention consists of the parts and the constructions and combinations of parts forming the improved tool, which I will hereinafter describe and claim. 1

The object of the invention is to devise a hand tool or cutting implement which by means of the devices hereinafter set forth operates upon a knife or cutting-blade so that While the tool may be madeto out a strip of leather or other material ofuniform thi'ck-' ne'ss fromlend to end itgcan alsob'e manipulated so that it-WilIfcut' the striplwitha con tinuous taperor lwith gradually increasing and of the operator.

or implement of the type shown in theaccompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1" represents a front view of the improved tool." Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same, and Fig. Sis a bottom plan.- Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view on the line 2 2 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view on the line 3 3 of Fig. 3. Fig. 6 isa detail of'the plate I..

The stock or body A of the tool is preferably of square or rectangular form in crosssection; It is best made of metal'and has projecting from its ends the handlesB, which are gras ped to draw the tool over the material to'be out: Transversely through the stock or body and opening outthrough the front andirear'sides and bottom of the same is an opening 0, in which a block or gage D is slidably mounted, said block or gage carrying a pointer E 'or means whereby the adjustment ofv the block or gage from the knife or cutting-blade may be read and accurately determined in connection witha scale or series of graduations on a plate F, fitted to the front of the stock with its edge proximate to the pointer on the slidable block or gage, as shown in' Fig. 1.

- The knife or cutting-blade G may beof any appropriate and well-known form. It is herein shown as having its cutting edge curved, and it is securely and rigidly clamped against the bottom of the stock or body by'the means I will now disclose. Two'clam'ping-plates H are employed to hold the. knife or cutting-blade, each of said plates engaging and clamping the end portions of the knife, which lie outside of the .vertical plane ofthe walls of the opening 0 whereby the central or cutting portion of the knife is unobstructed. Each of the clamp- .ing-plates His provided with two holes a. b,

one formed hit just outside of the adjacent end of the knife and the other in the outer portion. The holes a receive the screws 0,

which pass loosely through them and enter ,tlireaded holes 01 in the'bottom of the stock or body, while the holes I) are threaded and -rebeive'screws e, havingsmooth or unthreaded points or ends adapted to enter and form ful- 'crums'in corresponding cavities fin the bot- .tom of the stock or body. By reason of this c are turned down, their conical or rounded points turning in the cavities and their threaded portions working in the threaded holes Z) in the plates II, which results in the outer ends or heels of the plates being slightly lifted. This forces the toes or clamping ends of the plates lI down hard on the ends of the,

knife or blade and secures said blade against movement during the cutting operation. This arrangement of the screws 6 has been found by experiment to be far superior to venience or desire of the operator, but they are herein shown as radiating from the vertical center of the stock and bearing the groups of numbers 8 to 12, 9 to 13, 10 to 1d, and 11 to 15, to be read in connection with a pointer and the scale on the front of the stock, as I will now describe.

The adjustable block or gage D has two upwardly-projecting guide pins or studs D, which pass through the top of the stock or body and receive at their outer ends a transverse plate or follower I, having a central opening It. In the center of the stock is also made a hole I, in which is threaded a lefthand screw K, whose lower end bears against the block or gage D, while a shoulder at m bears under the cross-plate or follower J, the said screw having a reduced extension, to which is securely fitted a disk or thumb-wheel or finger-piece M, provided with a pointer N. If desired, a lever may be substituted for the disk, as shown by dotted lines, Fig. 2, without departing from the spirit of my invention. The pointer N operates over and is read with the numbered lines on the top of the stock.

The device being thus detailed its operation will be substantially as follows: Assuming that the plate on the front of the stock is graduated into thirty-second parts of an inch and that the block or gage D has been adjusted until its pointer registers with the graduation indicating eight thirty-seconds on the plate I, the pointer N on the disk or finger-wheel M or the lever, if used, will be found to register with the mark or line on top of the stock orbody which carries the numeral 8. In this position of the parts the bottom of the block or gage D will be removed eight thirty-seconds of an inch from the cutting edge of the knife, and the tool will cut a uniform strip of this thickness as long as this adjustment remains. If the disk or wheel M is turned to bring its pointer over any of the succeeding lines 011 the top of the stock, the screw K operates under the plate or follower J, and thereby raises the block or gage D a distance corresponding with the numeral over which the pointer .LT is stopped. Thus if the pointer I is turned to the line marked 10 the block or gage D will be raised to a point which causes its pointer to register with a graduation on the plate corresponding with ten thirty-seconds of an inch, and the strip now out from the material will be of that thickness. By reading the pointer N with the numbered lines on the stock or body the operator can always tell the set or adj ustment of the gage or block with reference to the cutter and the thickness of the strip to be out.

As the block or gage D is freely moved up and down by the simple turning of the disk or finger-wheel, (or lever,) it is apparent that if it is desired to cut a strip with a gradual taper from end to end the operator simply continuously turns the disk or wheel during the euttin g process, which results in a gradual and continuous alteration of the space between the bloek D and knife or cutter, and if the operator desires to cut a strip with alternate thick and thin portions the wheel or disk is moved right and left to effect the purose.

The wheel or disk is readily moved by the fingers, and in the hands of a skilled operator may be manipulated without difficulty, and by simply registering the pointer on the disk with the lines on the top of the stock he may accurately cut the regular or irregular strips as he desires without referring to the gage D and without any interruption in the continuous cutting operation or stroke.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a cutting tool or implement, the stock or bodyhavin g an opening made transversely through it, in combination with a block or gage adjustable in said opening, a knife or cutter beneath the block or gage, a screw, threaded in the stock or body and engaging the block or gage, and a plate or follower connected to and movable with the block or gage and engaged by the screw whereby the block or gage is adjusted with relation to the knife or cutter, and means for indicating the GX- tent of said adjustment.

2. In a cutting tool or implement, the combination of the stock or body, a knife or cutter fitted thereto, a block or gage movable within the stock or body toward and from the knife or cutter, and means whereby the block or gage may be continuously moved during the cutting operation, consisting of a screw, threaded in the stock or body and engaging said block and a fingenpiece for operating the screw.

3. The stock or body having a transverse opening, a block or gage adjustable in said opening and provided with upwardly-extending studs or guide-pins, a plate or follower fitted to the upper ends of the studs or pins exterior of the stock or body, a screw passing through a threaded opening in the stock or body and engaging said block or gage, for adj usting the latter, a knife or cutter beneath the block or gage and means for indicating the extent of movement of the block or gage.

4E. The stock or body having the verticallyadjustable block or gage, a scale or series of graduations proximate to the block or gage, a screw and connections for adjusting the block or gage, a knife or cutter and means for securing it in place and means for determining i the adjustment of the block or gage with reference to the knife or cutter, consisting of radial lines on the top of the stock and a pointer movable with the screw and adapted to be alined with said lines.

5. A leather-cutting tool or implement comprising a handled stock or body having a trans verse central recess and threaded top open- 7 ing, a block or gage adjustable in said recess and provided with guide-pins or studs, ex-

tending through the top of the stock, a plate or follower connecting said pins or studs and having a central opening, a screw working in to the'block or gage, a plate on the top of the stock, having radial lines, and a finger-piece on the screw having a pointerto be moved over the radial lines, for indicating the relation of the block to the cutter.

In testimony whereof Iaflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRANCIS E. MERRIMAN.

Witnesses:

FRANK MORYQVIE, E; H. CRANDELL. 

